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These were the words I uttered to poor Jack, 12 years of age, after the run. I cringe now, remembering the moment —I’ll claim it was the runner’s high getting the better of me.

I am sure that Jack didn’t even realise I was racing him. In all likelihood, he wouldn’t have cared anyway.

Jack and I are in the same running club, The Western Districts Joggers and Harriers, or Westies for short. They hold a number of races throughout each month. Jack and I compete in the 3.5km race on each second Saturday. On the day the above regrettable statement was uttered by yours truly, I came in first and was quite excited about this fact (as you can tell from the picture). I had never come first in any Westies race before or any running race, as far as I can remember.

The fact that makes this statement all the more regrettable is that, while my accomplishment was worthy of celebration, this race is a handicapped race. That means that the officials evaluate everyone by their speed and give them a handicap. The aim is that, all things being equal, all of the runners will cross the finish line at the same time. Therefore, the winner will be the one who beats their own handicap more than anyone else beats theirs.

So, while I won the race and crossed the line ahead of Jack that day, in fact he still ran that race 1 minute and 30 seconds faster than me. So much for beating the kid!

In contrast to my embarrassing attempt to smack down a year 6 boy, I recall another Saturday’s race when I came in second. On that Saturday I was being followed closely behind … I could hear the footsteps pounding. I had no idea who it was but I wasn’t going to let him or her pass me too easily.

As we came into the last 500m stretch, I put in my final effort and turned up the speed. Surprisingly, I had a lot left in the tank and managed to maintain the speed increase until I crossed the line. No one passed me. Well done me!

Now, the guy trying to pass me turned out to be quite an elite runner. Amazingly, he came up to me and congratulated me on my effort, saying I surprised him with my speed burst. He honoured me with his congratulation.

He showed much more grace towards me than I did to Jack, although I wasn’t really trying to smack down Jack. I only realised later, to my horror, that it came out that way. For Jack, there was no context to my comments and he was probably left scratching his head and thinking, “Why is this old man talking to me?”

I have really come to appreciate our handicapped races because they have taught me that my performance does not have to be at anyone else’s expense. I can be ambitious and support others along the way.

In a handicapped race, slow people can beat fast people. When they do, it is because they have improved more so than, say, an elite runner in the same race. At the Westies club, I have found everyone to be quite encouraging of one another’s performances and improvements —myself excluded, apparently 🙂 We share stories and tips with each other, and cooperate together to make our club the best it can be. Ultimately, the club is about everyone reaching their fullest potential.

A Life of Running

You might be wondering why I was racing Jack in the first place? Why had he become my rival?

I wasn’t really gunning for Jack per se; it’s just that I had begun to notice that he and I crossed the line fairly close to each other. So, in my mind, beating him became my goal, my inspiration for improving. Nevertheless, I just could not keep up with him for a number of months. To finally cross the line ahead of him was an achievement for me, even though he probably didn’t even notice me as I passed him.

Funnily, my previous running challenge was an older gentleman at the club. I overhead him say to a friend once, at the beginning of a training run, “Oh, I’m just going to have an easy run today”. Despite his probably being 15-20 years older than me, I just could not keep up with him and could never beat him for the next couple of years. I’ve given up trying to catch him and chose a 12 year old boy instead. How pathetic!

In a handicapped race, everyone is encouraged to improve and improvements are celebrated. Yet, still, there can be only one winner.

Along a similar line of thought, the apostle Paul once wrote,

Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last, but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. Therefore I do not run like someone running aimlessly; I do not fight like a boxer beating the air. No, I strike a blow to my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.
(1 Corinthians 9:24–27)

Paul here likened daily living to a running race —we’re running for life, you might say. Rather than running the race of life for temporary honour, he encouraged us to live our life for a prize of eternal significance. In your family, your hobbies and your career, be fully present and committed to such with discipline and focus. For Paul, the prize he wrote about is a life well lived towards an eternal reward.

By way of example, consider that Tony Robbins, in his book Money: Master The Game, outlined principles for creating a lifetime income plan. Yet, astonishingly, he stated in this way what he thought to be a life well lived,

The final secret of wealth is: the secret to living is giving.

Give freely, openly, easily, and enjoyably. Give even when you think you have nothing to give, and you’ll discover there is an ocean of abundance inside of you and around you. Life is always happening for you, not to you. Appreciate that gift, and you are wealthy, now and forever.
(Tony Robbins)

You would expect that a motivational speaker like Tony, writing a book about achieving wealth, would promote the belief that increasing one’s wealth is an ultimate end in itself. Instead, he encouraged us to keep our lives in a proper perspective and to contribute to others. Do what you can to increase your wealth now, but if use your wealth to give to others, you are wealthy forever.

Without doubt, there is much in life that can prevent you from reaching your fullest potential, whether taxes decreasing your wealth or detractors limiting your advancement, etc. In the face of such as these, do whatever you can anyway. Strive always to rise above your circumstances. Be more than just a dreamer.

However, there is another dimension to keep in mind, according to the apostle and to the motivational speaker: You can live your life well for yourself or you can live your life well by giving to others. It may seem counter-intuitive, but in such an attitude is an even greater reward than you can imagine. The apostle’s life ambition was to share the good news about Jesus with as many people as he could. He would do whatever it took for him to achieve that end. His ambition was to serve others, knowing that this would qualify him for the crown that will last forever.

This reminds me of a thought-provoking statement made by General Maximus, a character played by Russell Crowe in the 2000 epic historical drama Gladiator. As he and his soldiers were about to enter a decisive battle, he declared:

Fratres! Three weeks from now I will be harvesting my crops. Imagine where you will be, and it will be so. Hold the line. Stay with me. If you find yourself alone, riding in green fields with the sun on your face, do not be troubled; for you are in Elysium, and you’re already dead! [The soldiers laugh] Brothers, what we do in life, echoes in eternity.(General Maximus, in the film Gladiator, emphasis added)

There’s some humour in this, but also some powerful truth.

If you too sense that every moment has eternal significance, then live your life to the fullest now by contributing to others, with an aim towards eternity. What will be your legacy?

In what ways are you giving to and supporting others?
In what ways are others giving to and supporting you?

Even if you’ve screwed up scrambled eggs in the past, you can get to haute cuisine in a day and acquire an amazing standby dish that will never fail you. This is that dish.

The first time I made Osso “Buko”, it was sensational. Nevertheless, I have screwed it up three times since and have now given up on that recipe.

However, my favourite recipe is Squash and Spinach Pasta Rotolo by Jamie Oliver. It’s a brilliant dish, much more complicated than the previously mentioned dish, and I’ve yet to screw it up. There’s still time…

Because of my interest in cooking, I like watching cooking shows. And my family now enjoys watching Masterchef Australia with me.

My family will often remark that I should apply to be on Masterchef. The fact is, though, that I would not be a good contestant for Masterchef. I may know more about cooking than my family, but I don’t know nearly enough to ever be a contestant on such a show. An armchair-chef I remain, therefore.

The latest season has proved to be quite good, in many respects. Much better than previous seasons —the producers are obviously learning from previous mistakes.

Anyway, Marco appeared on Masterchef twice this season, for a whole week each time. His opening monologue was, surprisingly, quite inspiring. Here is something that he said:

Dreams are, without question, the most important thing. Because without them, you’ll never achieve anything. [I encourage my daughter, and those wishing to start a career in cooking, by telling her:] If you have a dream, then you have a duty and a responsibility to yourself to make it come true. Because if you don’t make your dreams come true, then you’re just a dreamer.
(Marco Pierre White)

Here is a short clip of Marco delivering this line:

These words of Marco ring true because, for the most part, they are true. If we don’t dream, we will have nothing to aspire to and will, therefore, achieve very little worth mentioning. However, if we were to be honest with ourselves, Marco’s words also have the ring of Disneyfication to them.

Disney is notorious for promoting the worldview that, if you just dream hard enough, your dreams will come true. The problem is that the world is not a fair nor a just place. Not everyone is born with the capacity nor the resources nor the opportunity to even begin to work towards the dreams they can conceive for themselves. For the vast majority of the world, the American dream —nor Australian nor that of other Western countries, by and large— will never be realised. And no amount of effort in dreaming will change that reality.

Excepting this Disneyfication caveat, I agree wholeheartedly with Marco. If you can dream a better reality for yourself than you are currently experiencing, then you most certainly owe it to yourself to do whatever you can to realise that dream for yourself. Otherwise, you remain merely a dreamer and, really, of no use to anyone, especially yourself.

He was a dreamer, a thinker, a speculative philosopher … or, as his wife would have it, an idiot.
(Douglas Adams)

However, it also remains true that regardless of what you can imagine for yourself, you may not have the capacity nor the resources nor the opportunity to realise your dream. Harriet Tubman was only partly correct when she wrote,

Every great dream begins with a dreamer. Always remember, you have within you the strength, the patience, and the passion to reach for the stars to change the world.
(Harriet Tubman)

If you have a dream, apply your strength, patience and passion towards realising that dream. Rise above your circumstances. Remember, though, not all dreams are achievable, nor are all dreams worth achieving.

The key, in my humble opinion, is to make an honest appraisal of yourself and your circumstances, and do whatever you can, whatever is in your power to do.

While I claim this as a humble opinion, the fact is, I find myself in good company:

For by the grace given to me, I tell everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he should think. Instead, think sensibly, as God has distributed a measure of faith to each one.
(Romans 12:3, HCSB)

For all of the apostle Paul’s strengths and abilities, he recognised that not all he accomplished was a result of his strengths and abilities. God called him to a purpose (Ac 26:9-18). Therefore, to become ‘puffed up’ by his accomplishments would be to ignore the truth that his accomplishments arose out of “the grace given to me” and the “measure of faith [distributed by God] to each one”. To recognise this is to “think sensibly” about one’s accomplishments and station in life.

Maybe you have dreams and the resources to accomplish them. Then, what are you waiting for? Go out and do what you can to accomplish your dreams. You owe it to yourself.

However, keep in mind that your circumstances are not exclusively your doing. You have been born into a family and a community and a country that provides you food, shelter, security, education, etc. People have invested time into you, both directly and indirectly. To accomplish your dreams serves yourself primarily, but, secondarily, achieving your dreams also honours those who have supported you throughout your lifetime, even God.

Consider the example of Kurt Warner who, while at the University of Northern Iowa, was a second-string player on the gridiron football team. During his studies he met a single mum who had two kids, one of whom was blind. Warner married the woman anyway and adopted both of her children.

Kurt wasn’t drafted by the NFL after graduating, so he went to work in a grocery store, stocking groceries. But he kept his dream alive by playing in the Arena Football League and eventually for the Amsterdam Admirals in the European NFL. In 1998, he was signed by the St. Louis Rams but barely played. In 1999, his opportunities didn’t look much better. The Rams had signed quarterback Trent Green to a multimillion-dollar contract. Kurt got the league minimum for a second-year player, $250,000.

In a pre-season game, Green got hurt, which allowed Warner to prove himself as a starting quarterback. And he did, big time! Kurt Warner was named the NFL’s most valuable player for 1999 and the MVP of the Super Bowl that year.

To this day, Warner keeps his success in perspective. During the Billy Graham crusade on 15 October 1999, at the TWA Dome in St. Louis, where the Rams play their home games, Warner announced to more than 40,000 cheering fans,

People often ask the secret to my success as a football player. It has nothing to do with how I work out in the off-season or my diet. The secret to my success is Jesus Christ.
(Kurt Warner)

Warner acknowledges that his faith, as well as the hardships and tragedies his family has faced, has helped him understand what truly is important in life. In turn, this helps him on the football field, particularly in pressure situations —my thanks to Greg Asimakoupoulos (of Mercer Island, Washington) and 1001 Illustrations That Connect (C. Larson and P. Ten Elshof, Zondervan Publishing House) for this story.

Be ambitious and pursue your dreams. Use whatever time, talents and resources you have at your disposal. You owe it to yourself. To merely dream is to remain merely a dreamer.

If you are successful in rising above your circumstances, remember to keep your success in its proper perspective. Don’t let your achievements ‘go to your head’, becoming arrogant in the process. You are not the only one backing you!

What’s your favourite dish to cook? Share your success and/or horror story.
What dreams keep you awake at night, motivating you to action? Are you acting on your dreams?
Who has supported you in your dreams, either directly or indirectly? Take the time to thank them.

Growing up, I had rather nimble fingers —in other words, I was pretty good at stealing.

Generally, while not encouraged to steal, this behaviour was not discouraged by my mother, as I usually shared the spoils around. However, that all changed the day I got caught.

I was in a large grocery store and helped myself to a large block of chocolate, without paying for it. As I exited the store, an undercover security officer stopped me and accused me of stealing. She patted me down, and I almost got away with it, until she brushed past my tummy. The chocolate was lodged in my pants. Off to the security office we went.

I was forced to wait, much longer than I thought reasonable, for the police to arrive. I rather cheekily stated to the cop, as he entered the office, “It’s about time.” He got the rundown of my crime and put me in the police car to take me home, where he explained to my mum what I had done.

Luckily, the store didn’t press charges —I was about aged 10 at the time, if I remember correctly.

However, after the policeman left, my mother all but chased me up to my room and proceed to smack me around. It became clear, pretty quickly, that her smacks were not having the desired effect, so he grabbed my shoe and proceeded to beat me with that. Needless to say, I had grown too big, and was too stubborn, for her discipline to really make an impression on me. I did not give up stealing that day because I was not given a good reason to.

Stop, Out of Compassion

My family and I once visited a church, where the preacher drew our attention to a verse in the Bible that was challenging in a very pleasing way. I couldn’t help but reflect on how exemplary this verse was of a Christian lifestyle, of how the rewards are so much better than what the world offers.

The verse in question is found at Ephesians 4:28 and comes from the apostle Paul:

Anyone who has been stealing must steal no longer, but must work, doing something useful with their own hands, that they may have something to share with those in need.
(Ephesian 4:28)

Simply put: Don’t steal!

Now, generally, few people would disagree with this advice —for examples, click here and here— nor would anyone disagree with the reason for not stealing that Paul put forward: Work. Do something useful! —some good quotes for and against stealing can be found here. The point that caught my attention is the ultimate goal with which Paul follows up this advice: Share with those in need!

Wow. Did you see that coming? I, like my family and the rest of the congregation gathered, had not made this connection before. Paul linked the command to not steal —#8 of The Ten Commandments (Ex 20:15)— with advice to get a job, and all for the goal of compassion.

Spend It On Yourself?

This is almost revolutionary! Imagine what society would look life if people stopped their criminal behaviour so as to become productive citizens contributing to the bettering of society. This is not restricted to the question of whether to steal or not, but applies to the whole basis of our lifestyle. This problem is that, while obvious and attractive, this advice is counter-cultural. It is not at all what the world encourages.

Watch the video below for an example…

EFTPOS is a direct debit system in Autralia for making purchases in stores and paying electronically with funds from a bank account. The company that markets and maintains this system is making the point in this commercial that you can and should take control of your financial life by using your own money, and not credit, to make purchases. Indirectly, they are providing a rationale to give up stealing.

There is nothing wrong with committing to gainful employment so as to have money to spend on oneself for one’s own reasons. I agree with EFTPOS completely and practice this regularly (e.g. I always pay my credit card in full each month). The problem is that this advice falls short of what God expects of us.

Through Paul, God revealed that the best reason for not stealing and for taking up gainful employment is not your own benefit. The best reason for not stealing is so that you can fulfil the two greatest commandments:

Jesus replied, “ ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbour as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”
(Matthew 22:37–40)

By giving up stealing and finding a job, you will earn money that you can spend on what you need. Even more than this, you can compassionately commit to making donations to worthy causes, like tithing to your church, that lift up those who are depressed by poverty or unemployment, and even, dare I suggest, those caught up in stealing.

This is God’s will for his people (Mic 6:8) and changing our thinking on such matters (Rom 12:2) will help us bring our behaviour and lifestyle into line with God’s expectations. And, ultimately, understanding this difference between the world’s values and Christian values will help you to enjoy the free, full, and forever life of Jesus. And this is a far better reward because, let’s face it, to be compassionate to others is a much better reason to not steal and a much better basis for our lifestyle!

Do you have, or have you had, a problem with stealing? Does Paul’s advice change your thinking in any way?
What other adjustments should you make right now to start living according to what God expects of you?

I always thought actor John Leguizamo was surprisingly underrated. I could never understand why because I think he is both funny and dramatic. His role as Tybalt in Baz Luhrmann’s 1996 version of Romeo + Juliet is a case in point.

Anyway, I had the pleasure of getting to know John Leguizamo better when I watched his one-man play Ghetto Klown on HBO.

The play is semi-autobiographical, as Leguizamo depicts his path from obscurity to stardom using comedy, pathos, song, dance and a veritable plethora of impersonations. How he is able to manage so many character impressions is beyond me.

Leguizamo described how he moved from stand-up comedy to television, with a small role in 1986 on Miami Vice. This opened up an opportunity to act in the 1989 film Casualties of War, alongside Sean Penn and Michael J. Fox. Surprisingly, after filming concluded, Leguizamo stated in Ghetto Klown,

So I came back to Queens a very disillusioned young man.
And, I gotta tell you, I got very depressed, man.
And when I’m depressed, I gotta be honest with you, I sleep too much, I don’t go out.
I don’t want to see nobody.
And then I drink too much coffee, and then, of course, I can’t sleep at all.
And then I drink too much and I lay around thinking about death.
Then I can’t stop beating off and I hate myself.
I’m disgusted with myself.
And I can’t leave the house because I repulse myself.

But, yo, when I hit bottom this time, I heard a voice in my head. “John, stop playing with your little gangster and pick up a pen and wrote down your experiences.”

He is referring here to one of his early acting coaches and mentor, Sylvia Leigh.

And, yo, I finally heard her. And for the first time in my life, I sat down to write and I wrote and I wrote and I wrote, man, till I crossed that wall of fear that you may not have the talent that you hope you had. And I wrote and I wrote and I wrote till I didn’t feel invisible anymore.

Such episodes of depression became the creative spark for Leguizamo to write his one-man shows Mambo Mouth, Spic-O-Rama, Freak and Sexaholix: A Love Story. He told interviewer Hugh Hart of FastCompany,

It’s true! Every time I’ve had one of those deep paralyzing kind of shut-in depressions, it makes me want to prove something. Bottoming out helps me focus. I guess it’s nature or my inner self telling me I need to deal with certain things, to grieve. When I surrender to the depression, there’s like a re-birth and I’m ready to create something.

As one who has himself suffered bouts of depression throughout life, times when I’ve felt so down that I even planned how to end my own life, I know the danger of wallowing in self-pity. Leguizamo’s description of his depression is candid and confronting, and I really appreciate his description of an antidote that helped him rise out of his depression: writing down the memory of his experiences. Committing to an action helped focus his attention and changed the way he thought about himself and his circumstances.

Asaph’s Story

There’s another creative artist, a song writer, who has similarly inspired me and who drew out the same antidote for overcoming depression, but with a slight twist. His name is Asaph and his story is recorded in The Bible.

Psalm 77 portrays a period of depression when Asaph felt all alone and could find no comfort. Except for the masturbation, the symptoms of his depression are remarkably similar to Leguizamo’s. He too turned to the memory of his experiences and wrote them down —which is why we have Psalm 77 available to us to read, among others. However, instead of lashing out against those who wronged him, Asaph remembered how God had intervened to save him and his people:

11But then I recall all you have done, O Lord;
I remember your wonderful deeds of long ago.12They are constantly in my thoughts.
I cannot stop thinking about your mighty works.
(Psalm 77:11–12; see also Ps 42:6)

Interestingly, he remembered good times of the past, but the memory of them only saddened him. He could not come to terms with why his times were so tough now?

The turning point came when Asaph, instead of focusing on himself and trying to rouse himself out of his funk, instead remembered that God was with him in the past and would continue to be with him in the future, come what may. He wrote down his thought process and, at the end, remembered his source of hope and found comfort.

Cognitive Reframing

Now, let me be clear: I am not a psychologist; I am a pastor. So, I can only give pastoral advice. Nevertheless, I believe it is fair to say that those whose depression requires serious professional intervention, and possibly even medication, are the exception rather than the rule. The vast majority of us suffer what would be considered minor depression —sometimes called “the blues”. Minor episodes of depression happen to far more people than are willing to admit. It can also lead to full-blown clinical depression if not treated.

One treatment for depression —but not the only treatment— is cognitive reframing, which is just a fancy way of saying, “getting another perspective on your problems”. This is a cognitive therapy for depression, meaning it uses your capacity to think through your problems, especially with support from friends or help from a therapist. Over time, you will realise that there is another way to look at your circumstances, even if the problem is you, another perspective that is more positive and healthy. This new perspective can lead to breakthrough.

Yet, it should be noted, this is often harder than it seems.

A way to kick start this process is to commit to a purposeful action, which is to couple your thinking with a behaviour. Both Leguizamo and Asaph did this to overcome their depressions: Leguizamo wrote down his experiences and turned them into theatre productions; Asaph wrote down his experiences and turned them into the words of a song. The process of performing these actions helped them to reframe their experiences, to put them into another perspective, and their creative output became cathartic.

There is a difference here between Leguizamo and Asaph. In Leguizamo’s performance of Ghetto Klown, while he warned his audience that his is a “cautionary tale”, he seems to offer us a lesson that he himself didn’t learn. While he was able to turn his depressive episodes into creative output, the fact that he wrote multiple one-man plays seems to suggest that his cognitive reframing did not actually sort out the problems that led to the depression. While he gained insight from his experiences, he doesn’t seem to have gained wisdom. I was left wondering that he was blaming others and not looking deep enough into himself.

Asaph, on the other hand, likewise committed himself to a purposeful action that resulted in creative output. In the midst of his writing, you can see him discover that God was with him all along. He wasn’t distant from Asaph. Asaph was merely not noticing God’s intervention on his behalf. Once he gained this insight, Asaph gained the wisdom of knowing that he was not alone that God was working with him in the midst of his circumstances. Whatever Asaph was contributing to his circumstances, God was protecting him but also helping him to overcome himself. This, to me, seems to be a much healthier result, compared to Leguizamo.

I too hit a seriously low period of my life in the mid-1990’s. I was a senior pastor for the first time and the pressure caught up with me, especially the pressure of realising my own hurts and inadequacies. I burnt out and began suffering anxiety attacks.

Along with seeking counselling, I began to exercise. I committed myself to running. I was going to apply to the Australian Army as a chaplain, but I needed to pass Basic Training first. Running would help me lose weight and get fit. Slowly at first, intermingled with walking. Eventually, I worked my way up to running 30 minutes straight. The running not only helped me to lose weight but it made me feel better about myself and eased my anxiety.

The running was purposeful, as I was applying for a new job. The Army rejected me, however, due to having the minor medical condition of gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD). Nevertheless, I reoriented my goals around achieving increasing distance and speed. I will never be a fast runner, but doing something made a difference to me, as it did for Leguizamo and Asaph. Like Asaph, more so than like Leguizamo, the action helped me to gain a healthy perspective and to see that God was with me.

Muzzle It

When you feel the ‘black dog’ nipping at your heels, you can muzzle it by speaking openly about it. Do not suffer in silence. There are friends and family and mental health professionals who are ready to support you.

Secondly, gain a new perspective on the circumstances that are causing you to feel sad. Reframe your thinking, remembering that, by faith, God is with you and “this too shall pass”, as the saying goes. Knowing that God is with you, in the good and bad, can make a huge load of difference. You are no longer alone in your circumstances, no matter how desperate they may seem. This truth provides an ability to persevere that is truly supernatural.

Finally, if you find it hard to change your thinking, you can kick start it by doing something. Commit yourself to some kind of action, something that has some purpose in it. Whether a creative pursuit or a project or an exercise, the act of following through on your commitment, beginning with small steps, can energise you in ways you would not have imagined.

What actions have helped you to overcome any episodes of depression you have felt?What poems, stories, or bible passages have helped you to reframe your circumstances?

I imagine that you have seen the 2014 American biographical war film called American Sniper. As per usual, the story behind the movie is much more interesting, as was the furore sparked by the movie.

American Sniper was directed by Clint Eastwood —a personal favourite director and actor of mine— and starred actor Bradley Cooper—who is also a pretty impressive actor— and is based on the story of an American Navy SEAL sniper named Chris Kyle. Kyle’s pinpoint accuracy saved countless lives on the Iraq battlefield and turned him into a legend.

Controversy

Following the movie’s release, Michael Moore, another American movie director and liberal political activist, made some rather snide comments about the movie on Twitter. What was particularly interesting to me was that Moore’s sarcasm was directed at the nominal Christian faith of the main character of American Sniper. Moore commented, “Tomorrow’s Sunday School [question:] What Would Jesus Do? Oh, I know what he’d do — hide on top of a roof and shoot people in the back!”

In this way, Moore was using the flaws he found in the real-life character of Chris Kyle to make a sarcastic remark about a particular type of Christian faith. The story got even more interesting when a reporter from FoxNews, named Todd Starnes, decided to respond to Moore. In a segment called American Dispatch, Starnes first admitted that he is “no theologian”, but then proceeded to declare, “Jesus would tell that God-fearing red-blooded American sniper, ‘Well done thou good and faithful servant’ for dispatching another godless jihadist to the lake of fire…” You can watch the American Dispatch segment and read more about the debate here.

I don’t know about you, but the image of Jesus crouching in the dirt and shooting someone in the back with a high-powered sniper rifle makes me a little uncomfortable. I imagine that some of the men that you and I mix and mingle with everyday would have no trouble with that type of Jesus at all. We might even make easy converts of them if they thought that Jesus is as prone to violence as they.

To Know is to Believe and Obey

Here’s the point I want to share with you: the more we know about Jesus, the more we will come to appreciate Jesus and believe in him; to believe in Jesus is to obey Jesus; to obey Jesus is to follow his commands.

Well, just before he ascended into heaven, Jesus gave this command to his followers saying,

You will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. (Acts 1:8)

The apostle Paul described this command another way when he wrote,

We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God. (2 Cor 5:20)

To be a witness and ambassador for Jesus is to tell the truth about Jesus, the truth about him that we have ourselves discovered. When we do this we inspire and help other people become followers of Jesus.

What is the Truth We Know About Jesus?

Many of the bikers I hang out with are fond of joking that God rides a Triumph, quoting the prophecy of Isaiah where it is written: “’If you keep your feet from breaking the Sabbath […] then you will find your joy in the LORD, and I will cause you to ride [a] triumph on the heights of the land […]’ For the mouth of the LORD has spoken.” (Is 58:13–14)

This loose paraphrase notwithstanding, we all know the truth is that Jesus rides a Harley-Davidson Dyna Superglide Custom, which is remarkably similar to my own motorcycle! I too quote the prophecy of Isaiah, where it is written: “Those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will [ride] on [wheels] like eagles; they will run [only when they have to] and not grow weary, they will walk [very rarely] and not be faint” (Is 40:31).

Joking aside, the truth about Jesus is

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.” (Jn 3:16–17)

That God loves the world is a truth that trumps all others and is the only truth that is going to interest other men!

Rather than taking life, like a sniper, you will be sharing truth that gives life!

So, even more important than the debate over whether Jesus would resort to violence or not, I want to impress upon you the thought that we had better be careful about what we tell others about Jesus. Let us not speak from our own values or portray Jesus in a way that we think might appeal to others. Let us speak only from the revelation about and teachings from Jesus contained in the Bible. We can do that by getting to know as much about Jesus for ourselves as we can —and the Spirit is available to help us with that. Then we speak from the certainty of God’s grace made available to all of us in Jesus.

What questionable things have you heard people say about Jesus? List the heresies you’ve heard in a comment below.